Icenetwork.com: As I understand, in preparation for the coming Olympic season, you're skating two sessions per day, gradually increasing the difficulty of your spins and jumps and planning to add a triple-triple jump combination to your program elements. Could you tell us more about that?

Czisny: The training will gradually increase as my hip heals and becomes better able to handle the increased stress and harder skills, so we have been taking it day by day and week by week. The most important thing is that we don't push the hip beyond what it is able to do each day, because we do not want to risk further injuries to the area. Once I have fully regained the strength and control in the hip, we will be able to add the new elements as well.

Best of luck to Alissa, but I think that, after two big hip injuries, a consistent triple-triple in BOTH segments of the competition is a pie-in-the-sky goal.

Since she doesn't have any GP assignments, she'll have to compete at Regionals and Sectionals to qualify for Nationals, won't she? If so, we won't have to wait until next January to see her progress.

Yes, she'd have to do Regionals for sure. But USFS could send her to a November "B" so she wouldn't have to do Sectionals. I think she'd have to do a "B" anyway to establish the base TES in order to qualify for Sochi/Worlds, since she didn't compete last season.

She's definitely got a tough road ahead of her and I'm not so sure she's going to make it. I'd like to see her earn that trip just b/c this is her last go at it. Agnes, Christina and Mirai could hang around until 2018 but it's obvious this is Alissa's last hurrah.

I can't see Mirai going all the way to 2018. The competition nationally is just going to keep getting better and she's already falling behind skaters like Agnes and Christina.

Realistically, it's not likely, but I think kwanatic's point was that -- physically -- Mirai could stay for another Olympic cycle. She'll only be 23 during the 2018 Games, the same age that Yuna and Mao will be in Sochi. Alissa, meanwhile, will be 30 in 2018, so next year really is her last shot at qualifying.

Realistically, it's not likely, but I think kwanatic's point was that -- physically -- Mirai could stay for another Olympic cycle. She'll only be 23 during the 2018 Games, the same age that Yuna and Mao will be in Sochi. Alissa, meanwhile, will be 30 in 2018, so next year really is her last shot at qualifying.

Mirai will be 24 years and 10 months in 2018. She would have no chance.

Mirai will be 24 years and 10 months in 2018. She would have no chance.

Sorry, bad math (forgot it's still 2013). But Carolina will be 27 in Sochi, and many people are projecting her as a very likely medalist...

ETA: I'm not suggesting that age is the ONLY factor involved in a skater's longevity, just that using a skater's age (as long as she is 29 or under) is an incomplete way of evaluating the possibility of extending her career.

Alissa has to compete at US Regionals and Sectionals in order to qualify for US Nationals. Regionals are in October, around the same time as Skate America; Sectionals are in mid-November. That means Alissa has to be landing all her jumps three months from now. If she hasn't started jumping yet, that doesn't bode well for her return.

USFS could send Alissa to international competitions (Skate America and an international B event) to get her a bye from Regionals/Sectionals, but that would be even more pressure to get ready than the local competitions, and the timetable doesn't change.

EGLs doesn't have extreme amounts of talent in Senior ladies where Alissa with a 2A and a couple easier triples and some doubles could realistically qualify for Mids (even if she gets 4th, she moves on to Mids, so a lot less pressure there). Mids will be a lot more difficult and she'd need more technical skills there for sure as there are quite a few talented ladies trying to claw there way through.

Alissa has to compete at US Regionals and Sectionals in order to qualify for US Nationals. Regionals are in October, around the same time as Skate America; Sectionals are in mid-November. That means Alissa has to be landing all her jumps three months from now. If she hasn't started jumping yet, that doesn't bode well for her return.

USFS could send Alissa to international competitions (Skate America and an international B event) to get her a bye from Regionals/Sectionals, but that would be even more pressure to get ready than the local competitions, and the timetable doesn't change.

She's landing triples, according to TSL, but not the harder ones like flip and (I assumed) Lutz.

Alissa NEEDS at least one international event before Nationals. She needs to know how she stacks up against the rest of the top ladies now (things have changed since 2011/2012), lest she qualify for the Olympics and be in for an ugly shock when she actually gets there. This early-season exposure would serve as a reality check -- she'll see where she is now, and what improvements are in store before Nationals.

I would like to see her receive the SA spot -- I don't know if any other American lady who doesn't already have two assignments has a better chance of getting the third Olympic spot -- but, at the very least, a November senior B should be on her schedule. Ideally, both.